Antibiotics not being used properly, leading to 'apocalyptic scenario' of drug-resistant infections, England's chief medical officer says

"The rise in drug-resistant infections is comparable to the threat of global warming, according to the chief medical officer for England," BBC News reports. Professor Dame Sally Davies "said bacteria were becoming resistant to current drugs and there were few antibiotics to replace them" (Gallagher, 1/24). "'It is clear that we might not ever see global warming, the apocalyptic scenario is that when I need a new hip in 20 years I'll die from a routine infection because we've run out of antibiotics,' she announced," adding, "It is very serious, and it's very serious because we are not using our antibiotics effectively in countries," GlobalPost writes (Silverstein, 1/24).

"Some strains of bacteria, notably MRSA, are becoming feared in hospital wards around the world, and there are also reports of antibiotic resistance in strains of E. coli and tuberculosis," the National Post notes, adding, "Davies will issue a report in March with recommendations on what needs to be done, but in many areas of the U.K. press, calls were already being made for governments, doctors and drug manufacturers to come together to plot a strategy to avoid the worst-case scenarios" (Rehel, 1/24).